This time the soloists were Yaakov Lemmer and Moshe Schulhof, and it was co-conducted by Mordechai's son, Ofir. The atmosphere was less "performance" and some of us, at least from the Ezrat Nashim, Ladies Section balcony, sang dovened/prayed along.

Some of the tunes were composed by the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, who used to claim that his tunes were simple and his voice ordinary which he considered a great blessing. A blessing, because he wanted his dovening to be "singalong," for all to join in. Reb Shlom'le would have been very happy with the dovening and atmosphere. He would have been totally overjoyed at the "An'im Zamirot," by a little boy at the end of Musaf. The professional cantors and choir gave the young kid all the honor, and that little boy rose to the occasion like a pro. We had to hold back the clapping, but the tears were harder to contain.

By the end of the five (but it felt like less since it was so much fun) hour service, the curtains were all open up in the gallery. We ladies had the greatest view imaginable. This wasn't some Jewish opera performance/concert; it was interactive prayers, just the way it should be.